Surviving 'Doomsday' and learning to live again
Australian Claire Ashman spent nearly a decade in a doomsday cult; she was 36 and had eight children when she left.
Australian Claire Ashman had a strict religious upbringing and grew up isolated from the outside world. She was taught to always obey her husband so, when he decided to join a doomsday cult, Claire had no choice but to follow. The community lived behind a barbed wire fence and continually prepared for the end of the world. But the reality was even more sinister - teenage girls were becoming pregnant and nobody was talking about how. Claire knew that in order to keep her family safe, she needed to escape. When she eventually did the world was waiting for her and Claire embraced it.
Get in touch: [email protected]
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Emily Naylor
(Photo: Claire Ashman. Credit Caroline Mitchell)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Wed 1 Feb 202312:06GMTBBC World Service
- Wed 1 Feb 202318:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Wed 1 Feb 202323:06GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 2 Feb 202300:06GMTBBC World Service South Asia
- Thu 2 Feb 202303:06GMTBBC World Service except South Asia
Featured in...
![]()
Cult behaviour—Outlook
Stories exploring the destructive power of cults and the people who survive them
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected
